''Microvictoria svitkoana'' is a fossil species of aquatic plant, which occurred in the Cretaceous period of New Jersey, USA.Gandolfo, M. A., Nixon, K. C., & Crepet, W. L. (2004)
"Cretaceous flowers of Nymphaeaceae and implications for complex insect entrapment pollination mechanisms in early angiosperms."
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(21), 8056-8060.

Description

Generative characteristics

The pedunculate, actinomorphic flowers are 2.3-3.4 mm long, and 1.2-1.6 mm wide. The peduncle is 0.4-1.8 mm long. Both staminoids and fertile stamens are present.

Taxonomy

Publication

It was published by Maria Alejandra Gandolfo, Kevin C. Nixon, and William L. Crepet in 2004.

Type specimen

The type specimen was collected in the Old Crossman Clay Pit,

Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, USA.

Position within Nymphaeales

It is placed in the family Nymphaeaceae. This placement has been questioned by different authors, who believe it may be placed outside of the order Nymphaeales.Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R., & Pedersen, K. R. (2011)
"Early Flowers and angiosperm evolution."
p. 204. Cambridge University Press.Löhne, C. (2006)
"Molecular Phylogenetics and Historical Biogeography of Basal Angiosperms – A Case Study in Nymphaeales"
issertation, Rheinischen Friedrich–Wilhelms–Universität Bonn It has been proposed to include it in a newly described family Microvictoriaceae Doweld with a possible affinity to the order

Illiciales Illiciales is an order of flowering plants that is not recognized by the current most widely used system of plant classification, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's APG III system. The order was comprised differently in various systems of plant ta ...

.Doweld A.B. 2022
New names of fossil Nymphaeaceae and allied forms.
Geophytology 52(1&2): 1–28.

Etymology

The generic name ''Microvictoria'' expresses an affinity to the extant genus ''Victoria''. The specific epithet ''svitkoana'' honours Jennifer L. Svitko, a lab technician of the

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

.Jennifer Svitko. (n.d.). Cornell CALS. Retrieved February 6, 2024, from https://cals.cornell.edu/jennifer-svitkoLab members. (n.d.). Cornell University. Retrieved February 6, 2024, from http://bhort.bh.cornell.edu/histology/memb.html

Ecology

Pollination

It was pollinated by insects.Angiosperm Pollination. (2021, August 24). Digital Atlas of Ancient Life. Retrieved February 6, 2024, from https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/embryophytes/angiosperms/angiosperm_pollination/

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10329664 Nymphaeaceae Cretaceous plants Cretaceous angiosperms Prehistoric angiosperm genera Fossil taxa described in 2004 Nymphaeales genera